The following is an excerpt from a feature story on Wichita State University graduate Sidney Brown that appeared in the July 16 issue of The Leavenworth (Kan.) Times.
Sidney Brown of Leavenworth said he was nervous on May 14, perhaps like a number of other college graduates.
Sitting in Charles Koch Arena at Wichita State University, Brown said he found himself hoping for a bit of simple luck.
"I thought, ‘I know I'm going to trip when I get up there,'" he said.
Brown didn't trip. Instead, he said he was greeted with a roar of applause from the crowd and from his fellow students and a handshake from the president of WSU as he crossed the stage and flipped the tassel on his cap.
Brown, 63, received a Bachelor of General Studies degree that day, his first college diploma and the culmination of a 45-year dream.